Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3, a Digital Music Store Offering Customers Earth's Biggest Selection of a la Carte DRM-Free MP3 Music Downloads — Amazon MP3 Offers Over 2 Million Songs From More Than 180,000 — Artists and Over 20,000 Labels, Including EMI Music and Universal

Amazon MP3 vs. Apple iTunes: Where Should You Shop? — Amazon (AMZN) has just announced that the beta version of its MP3 download store is live. The company claims it has 2 million DRM free songs, each priced from 89 cents to 99 cents. More than 1 million of the 2 million songs are priced at 89 cents.

Amazon launches DRM-free "Amazon MP3" music downloads — If you're into DRM-free music, you have a reason to get pretty excited today. As speculated, Amazon has launched the public beta of its new digital music portal called Amazon MP3, which will feature two million songs from 180,000 artists …

15 Billion More Reasons to Worry About Facebook — Oh, my. — Oh, my. — Dig a hole and hide. The end is nigh. And how do you spell Ponzi (as in scheme) again? — When I reported in this column two weeks ago that Facebook was looking to raise a new round of funding …

For Facebook, GeoCities Offers a Cautionary Tale — Can Rise and Fall of Once-Hot Site — Sway Decisions on Funding, IPO? — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was 10 years old when David Bohnett, then a 37-year-old mainframe programmer, hatched an idea: Set up a Web-based "community" …

Windows DreamScene released! — In early July, I wrote about The Ultimate Team's intention to ship the remaining promised Ultimate Extras (DreamScene and the remaining Language Packs) by the end of the summer. Unfortunately summer never really came to Seattle this year—so we missed our cue.

"iPhone Dev Team" issues statement — A spokesman for the iPhone Dev Team, the group that developed the iPhone unlock has issued a statement condemning Apple and promising a tool in the next week which will restore your iPhone to a factory-fresh state. The unlock, he writes …

Is Apple in danger of losing its following? — When the iPhone first hit store shelves, Apple was on top of the world. Not only did the company enjoy the biggest product release of the year, its stock price was on the rise, Mac sales were soaring and for the first time …

Facebook IM Client Coming Soon — I have just been given a sneek preview of a new Facebook IM client that is going into beta this Friday. What I like about this Facebook app is there is nothing to download or install, no registration and best of all, all of your friends in Facebook can use it instantly.

Google Building Blocks Toolkit — I just received this Toolkit in the mail from Google: — Are they trying to bribe advertisers? Is this the equivilant of a paid link? — Regardless, it's always nice to receive goodies in the mail, especially from Google. — Thanks Google. I appreciate it.

Office 2008 for Mac details revealed at Apple Expo — More details about the upcoming Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac product line-up were released at Apple Expo which opens today in Paris. Microsoft will offer three Office 2008 SKUs and a new technology guarantee program. — 1. Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac

Parakey: Did Investors Get Left Out In The Cold? — When Facebook acquired Parakey in July, everyone assumed the stockholders of that fledgling startup would be popping the champagne bottles. No matter what the acquisition price (it wasn't disclosed), if the sellers got Facebook stock …

Cisco teams with Haier for home network gear — Cisco has inked a deal with one of China's largest appliance makers to develop networking gear for residential use. Through its partnership with the Haier Group, Cisco seeks to cash in on the ever-growing popularity of the internet as a critical component in home entertainment centers.

Even Bill Gates and Master Chief showed up — From guest blogger Brian Chin; photos by Mike Urban: — Bill Gates himself was there to work the crowd and autograph the first copy of "Halo 3" sold at the Best Buy in Bellevue very early today when the eagerly anticipated game went on sale at midnight.

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